The Confusion about Tariffs
People who have never imported goods themselves for either personal use or for retail sale may be confused as to who pays tariffs but it is my experience that it is the recipient of an imported good that eventually pays freight, duties, tariffs and taxes.
I have personally imported books, compact discs, DVDs and blu-rays from abroad and none of the businesses have paid tariffs on my behalf unless that had done so previously to import these goods into their country, to then sell it to someone else.
No eBay or Amazon seller that I have purchased goods from has ever paid customs brokers for products made in their own country and this is how I had managed to save money for decades, as I’ve mentioned in a March 2010 page on this blog.
Instead of placing special orders at my local CD stores, which resulted in a considerable mark-up and delay in receiving the CD, I had taken advantage of a postal importation exemption that allowed me to import shipments valued at less than CA$20, duty and tax free.
No costly customs brokerage fees. Nothing. And it was advantageous on light shipments like that of a CD single, DVD or blu-ray, whose shipping and handling costs were low because they were light. And shipments from England were relatively inexpensive and fast as well.
But I digress…
Like duties and taxes, tariffs are only calculated and billed at the border, by custom brokerages working for the courier. And in my case it was Canada Post because I avoided the major couriers because of their higher brokerage fees. And to facilitate shipments, some companies like Amazon do have their own customs brokers, calculating and including an estimate on shipments to Canada.
Amazon Canada also provides estimates on goods that might be imported, so it is always the customer that ends up with the final bill, not the manufacturer of the product ordered.
After all, they’re the people buying the product and they’re willing to pay to import it mainly because it isn’t made or still available in their country.
Tariffs are based on demand and the British, French, Scandinavian and Australian compact discs, compact disc singles, DVDs and blu-rays that I purchased were not manufactured and distributed in Canada so I paid to import them. And had I purchased them via a retailer, they would have paid a distributor a markup to cover their payment of these fees, which would have been recouped from me by the retailer when I purchased the product there.
The same scheme applies to most products, including American dairy imports. But the Canadian dairy companies importing it to make products have yet to reach the threshold that would result in tariffs, the “tariff rate quota”, so they haven’t paid any tariffs on American dairy for decades, nor have their Canadian consumers until the retaliatory tariffs kicked in April 2025.
This 25% tariff has not been added to books, musical instruments, compact discs, DVDs or blu-rays made in the United States and hopefully that wont happen in the future. But I’ll keep an eye on the situation and update this blog accordingly if something happens.
I hope this helps people that were confused about the situation. And remember, shop around!
- What is a tariff? An Economist Explains
- How Tariffs Work – Export Development Canada
- The Smoot-Hawley Tarriff – United States Senate
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Just thought you’d like to know.
Sunrise Records is offering discounts on new vinyl and compact discs until September 3rd, 2023 – 15% off on in store purchases of vinyl over $100 and 10% off on in store purchases of compact discs over $50.
Enjoy.
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A very quiet month but…
As you can see there wasn’t much to talk about this month.
The concerts and record conventions are back on, so it should pick up in fall:
- The Bowmanville CD and Record Show is scheduled for Sunday, September 11th at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House from 10am-4pm with free admission whilst the Newmarket Record Show will be occurring an hour or so drive away on the same day at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am-3pm. (Road trip?)
- There will be a Giant Record & CD Garage Sale at 90 Vanzant Court in Whitchurch-Stouffville from 10am to 4 pm on Saturday, September 17th. This appears to be a private residence so parking could be limited.
- The Guelph Record Show will be happening the following Sunday, September 18th at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10:30am-4pm and tickets are $20 for early access and $5 for general admission.
- The Montreal Record Show will occur the Sunday after that, on the 24th of September at Eglise Catholique Saint-Denis from 10am to 4pm, with free admission. This church if located next to the North entrance of the Laurier Metro station, I believe facing the entrance itself.
- The Toronto Downtown Record Show will be at 958 Broadview Ave, East York from 10am to Noon ($25/early admission) and Noon to 3pm ($5/general admission) on Sunday, September 25th. Parking will be limited but the event is less than a three minute bus ride from the Broadview TTC Metro Station to the corner of Broadview and Chester Hill Rd (Stop ID: 651), or ten minute walk from said station.
- The Hamilton Record Show is also happening on Sunday, the 25th of September from 10:30am to 4pm at Bridgeworks, which is an hour’s drive away from the Toronto event. The venue is also a ten minute walk from the West Harbour GO station or 6 minute walk from Bus Stop 2977 at the corner of Cannon and Hess. And he admission fees for this convention is $20 for early admission and $5 for general admission.
- The first convention of October will occur on the Sunday, the 2nd in Windsor at the Royal Canadian Legion on Wyandotte St E at 10am to 4pm. Admission will be $3 and the venue from this event is near bus stop numbers 1303 and 1304.
- Another Bowmanville CD and Record Show is scheduled for Sunday, October 16th at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House from 10am-4pm with free admission whilst the Barrie Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be happening an hour and a half drive away on the same day at the Allandale Recreation Center from 10am-3pm with $4 admission. (Road trip?)
- The London Record Show will be occurring the following Sunday, October 23rd at Centennial Hall from 11am to 5pm, with a $5 admission fee. Parking is available onsite for a fee and the nearest bus stops are less than a three minute walk away at London City Hall (bus stop numbers 535 and 1936).
- The Calgary Music Collectors Show, will be on at the Acadia Recreation Centre Curling Hall on Sunday, October 23rd from 9:30am-11am ($10/early admission) and 11am-4pm ($5/general admission). The bus stop numbers closest to the venue are 6414 and 6447.
- The Oshawa CD/Record Show end the scheduled shows for October at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, the 30th. Admission will be $3, with parking on-site, and the nearest bus stops are numbers 665 and 670.
- The St. Catharines Record Show originally scheduled for the 8th of November was unfortunately cancelled so the first record convention of that month in Ontario will be the Burlington Record Show at the Burlington Senior Center in Central Park, from 10:30am to 4pm on Sunday, the 13th. Admission will be $3 and the nearest bus stop number are 38, 40, 216 and 815, the latter being the closest. And this event occurs on the same day of November’s Bowmanville CD and Record Show at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House, which is of course free, open from 10am to 4pm and only a hour and a half drive away from the previously mentioned event. (Road trip?)
- Also the 13th of November, the Record Fair will be hosted at the St.John’s Farmer Market in St.John’s, Newfoundland from 10am to 4 pm. And the nearest bus stop to the venue is #245.
- The December 11th Bowmanville CD and Record Show is apparently the last show of the Fall season and year, at the same times and venue as the previous shows. But this may change at any time so I encourage you to to visit Vibrations.ca for updated record convention information. And please be aware that masks and social distancing may be encouraged at these events, as well as the use of cash for purchases.
I will try to update this page. But if you know of any other event, please post it on my Facebook group. Thank you.
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Great News From RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America has compiled its data for 2017 and sales are up by 16.5%, driven by the heightened sale of vinyl records, music downloads and streaming service subscriptions.
The actual report can be found here (in PDF) and additional commentary on this growth in sales can be found on Medium.
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Did Video Truly Kill The Radio Star ?
In the 80’s there was this popular belief that music videos would eventually result in the demise of radio.
Experts had believed that the popularity of music television would cause radio to fade away. And this prediction was so popular that it resulted in two incredibly successful singles based on radio nostalgia ; One from Queen (“Radio Ga Ga“) and one from The Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star“).
But it appears that this prediction was premature.
According to Nielson’s “Music 360” study, 48% of the individuals they polled claimed they “discover music most often through the radio”.
Youtube has become a major source for music in teens, 64% of the respondents having stated they listen to music on the service. But 56% of the teens polled also listen to radio.
It appears that radio is adapting and remains one of the main sources for music in teens, over two decades after the predictions were made.
Also noteworthy are the findings that compact discs still remain popular in some circles, 55% of the music fans polled having “identified physical CDs as a very or fairly good value”.
Half of the teens polled also claim to listen to compact discs. And 36% have purchased at least one compact disc within the year.
Three thousand Americans responded this online survey.
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Cinram Files For Bankruptcy
Cinram, one of the world largest CD, DVD and blu-ray manufacturers, has filled for bankruptcy. This was in response to the loss of a major contract with Warner Music Group Corp.
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